March 22, 200620 yr Just got off the phone with Jerry Del Castillo, he says that the talks went well into monday night and look very promising...hialeah heights is the place and it looks like the county is almost done acquiring the land from Armando Codina.....anyhow..i should be hearing from JDC in the near future I remember Codina stating in an article that his land was not for sale. Is he giving the land away or is the county paying for this land? Wouldn't that decrease their contribution in building this stadium?
March 22, 200620 yr Just got off the phone with Jerry Del Castillo, he says that the talks went well into monday night and look very promising...hialeah heights is the place and it looks like the county is almost done acquiring the land from Armando Codina.....anyhow..i should be hearing from JDC in the near future I remember Codina stating in an article that his land was not for sale. Is he giving the land away or is the county paying for this land? Wouldn't that decrease their contribution in building this stadium? This memo from Burgess to the county commission estimates a ballpark at Hialeah Heights would cost $455M IF they would get the land for "free". If they are indeed buying it from him it could cost $15M+.
March 22, 200620 yr For those not from the South Florida area, the map can be kind of deceptive. The Greater Miami area is made up of many municipalities (of which the City of Miami itself is only one) and unincorporated parts of the County (where Dolphins Stadium is now). Hialeah is further south and west than Dolphins Stadium. I don't have the exact mileage but I wouldn't be surprised if the Hialeah site is actually closer to the City of Miami than Dolphins Stadium. Hialeah is the second largest city in the County, behind Miami. Additionally Hialeah is full of baseball fans (people who might actually vote for use of public funds for a ballpark) and the city has not had the types of financial crises that Miami has had in the past. Hialeah gets put down a lot because it's so Hispanic. People have an impression of Hialeah as a Banana republic. That impression has been reinforced by the long time and now former Mayor Raul Martinez. Martinez was combatative and embattled, but also an effective mayor for the city. The parks and recreation department in Hialeah is probably the best in the county.
March 22, 200620 yr For those not from the South Florida area, the map can be kind of deceptive. The Greater Miami area is made up of many municipalities (of which the City of Miami itself is only one) and unincorporated parts of the County (where Dolphins Stadium is now). Hialeah is further south and west than Dolphins Stadium. I don't have the exact mileage but I wouldn't be surprised if the Hialeah site is actually closer to the City of Miami than Dolphins Stadium. Hialeah is the second largest city in the County, behind Miami. Additionally Hialeah is full of baseball fans (people who might actually vote for use of public funds for a ballpark) and the city has not had the types of financial crises that Miami has had in the past. Hialeah gets put down a lot because it's so Hispanic. People have an impression of Hialeah as a Banana republic. That impression has been reinforced by the long time and now former Mayor Raul Martinez. Martinez was combatative and embattled, but also an effective mayor for the city. The parks and recreation department in Hialeah is probably the best in the county. Actually Hialeah Heights is farther from the downtown Miami than Dolphins Stadium, but it's less than a mile. I don't think the Marlins will let a decision like this go to the voters. If the county is the one that's acquiring the land than I would imagine Hialeah would contribute funds, that and whatever MLB puts into the projec could close the gap. Hialeah has improved a lot in the past few years.
March 22, 200620 yr nooo i want a shared one with FAU (in boca lol ) o well any stadium in south fla is fine with me I would love it there at FAU but as long as the marlins stay in florida they can build it in Keywest for all I care at this point.
March 22, 200620 yr We are rallying back. Caps inside out fish fans!!!!! Off topic for a minute.... Your avatar and signature is the frickin' bomb. Nothing beats more cowbell and the shocker...two in the goo, one in the poo. I got a fever, and the only cure is more cowbell.
March 22, 200620 yr If the county is the one that's acquiring the land than I would imagine Hialeah would contribute funds, that and whatever MLB puts into the projec could close the gap. That would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $0. MLB won't pay for anything or close a gap because of the precedent it sets for future ballparks. They'll help lobby the county and state, but there's no way they're closing any gap.
March 22, 200620 yr I'm cautiosly optimistic about this. We shall see. But like Swift mentioned I doubt MLB is putting any money. And I don't think that the City of Hialeah is putting any significant contribution. There must be something that we don't know for this to be realistic. I can't wait to see more details
March 22, 200620 yr If the county is the one that's acquiring the land than I would imagine Hialeah would contribute funds, that and whatever MLB puts into the projec could close the gap. That would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $0. MLB won't pay for anything or close a gap because of the precedent it sets for future ballparks. They'll help lobby the county and state, but there's no way they're closing any gap. Swifty..that is where you are wrong...MLB already opened up pandora's box by contributing money to the DC stadium...they have no choice now but to help the team
March 22, 200620 yr If I remember correctly, the Hialeah Heights location would be almost directly west of Dolphins Stadium. Just a bit south. http://www.geocities.com/cbay3/ballpark.bmp
March 22, 200620 yr If the county is the one that's acquiring the land than I would imagine Hialeah would contribute funds, that and whatever MLB puts into the projec could close the gap. That would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $0. MLB won't pay for anything or close a gap because of the precedent it sets for future ballparks. They'll help lobby the county and state, but there's no way they're closing any gap. Swifty..that is where you are wrong...MLB already opened up pandora's box by contributing money to the DC stadium...they have no choice now but to help the team I was under the impression that money contributed was to be repaid by whatever group eventually purchases the Nationals. MLB was acting as a surrogate owner for the Nationals and thus had to act in such role. If the sale had already been finished, the contribution would have been nothing and as it is, that contribution amounts to little more than a loan to make the Nationals more attractive to a buyer. Different situation, different circumstances and Loria already has a sizeable loan from MLB.
March 22, 200620 yr I don't want to be painted as Mr. Negative on this but the fact that a) so far this is single-sourced, and b) it is outside the UDB, which should be of great concern. No one wants this to happen more than I do, and I can see a legitimate argument that the property is not part of the Everglades eco system and has already been used industrially, but the hurdles that have to jumped are staggering and would require approvals from here to Tallahassee.
March 23, 200620 yr I didn't get a chance to listen today. FreshFish might be able to answer this question.
March 23, 200620 yr I didn't get a chance to listen today. FreshFish might be able to answer this question. I wasn't able to listen today. sorry
March 23, 200620 yr Not certain of the date, but DuPuy was supposed to visit Hialeah soon after the WBC finished...
March 23, 200620 yr It would be nice if more than one source would report this. I'm not really liking the location either, you're never going to get tourists to this ballpark way out in West Dade. I've always though that you need it in Downtown Miami, where just about every other ballpark is located (downtown).
March 23, 200620 yr It would be nice if more than one source would report this. I'm not really liking the location either, you're never going to get tourists to this ballpark way out in West Dade. I've always though that you need it in Downtown Miami, where just about every other ballpark is located (downtown). beggars can't be choosers. who cares about the tourists? the ballpark will be in hialeah, where it's full of rabid baseball fans.
March 23, 200620 yr "...the ballpark will be in hialeah, where it's full of rabid baseball fans." Well not exactly.
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